>> these would be riders in the same area who want to ride with you. >> okay. >> if you make money off of this app, are you going to g go get an apartment? >> oh, yeah, of course. trump plaza hotel. >> reporter: but even if he never makes it to the plaza e. has friends like these city workers looking out for him. >> i tell guy, don't judge no one. you never know what a person went through. >> reporter: and then there's his infectious inner peace. all the money in silicon valley just can't buy. how do you manage to keep a positive attitude? >> faith, prayer. it works. try it. >> reporter: bill weir, cnn, new york. all right. much more of the newsroom straight ahead. hello again. i'm fredricka whitfield. a cold snap is gripping the central parts of the country knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people. grounding flights and plunging

many states into bone-chilling cold. how long will it last? we'll tell you next. after six weeks locked up in north korea, an elderly u.s. war veteran is suddenly freed. we're going to take you to california live for the latest on his whereabouts. and nelson mandela. you know him as an antiapartheid revolutionary, a prisoner, and as south africa's first black president. but what about an athlete? we'll take a look at his love of sports coming up. a major storm is moving across the central part of this country. the dallas ft. worth area is one of the hardest hit places. an ice storm knocked out power for thousands and canceled hundreds s of flights. much of the state is plunged into bone-chilling cold. the city cancelled the marathon

ask scheduled for tomorrow. in tennessee the state of emergency has been declare bid the governor because of the weather. andrew peterson is joining us live now from a very chilly memphis. i mentioned dallas had a marathons that been canceled for tomorrow. what's the status of the memphis marathon that was also scheduled? >> reporter: yeah, unfortunately that was canceled as well. it was an important decision. 20,000 people were expected to come into the city of memphis and you think about that commute time during the highest point of that ice storm. that was the concern and then, of course, as they were expected to leave today from that marathon they were looking at another threat of an ice storm expected to be in the region tonight. that was one of the concerns. the other concern was the frigid temperatures. you're talking about this arctic air mass plummeted down to the south. temperatures now, especially this morning, felt like they were in the single digits. they were concerned for the iraniran runners and volunteers. that was the big thing. other than that, the biggest concern here is there's still some ice on the ground. definitely just north of us.

shut down the cities. at this point in time only 500 people are left without power. big change from $5,000 that we saw this morning. much nicer conditions here. but caveat here, there's another storm expected to make its way through tonight. more chances for ice. keep in mind, even if we don't get half an inch of ice here, that's the threshold that brings down the power lines if we already have a quarter of an inch on the power lines on the previous system, you still have the threat of the power lines to go down again tonight and look at more devastation in the region. all this, a couple of weeks before winter officially begins. alexandra steel is in the we is ve severe weather center. fall has quite a bite in the air. >> thanks, fred. want to talk about what we were saying about that ice. now, this ice storm we're going to see develop. tomorrow, it's a sunday affair. will be farther east. kentucky will get into it a little bit as will tennessee.

want to time it out and show you who will see what and when. this is tomorrow morning. here's the mid atlantic in washington. bulk of the action south and west. notice where the pink is. roanoke to richmond. that will be the biggest ice headache on the i-81. by tomorrow afternoon, d.c. gets into it. and then it moves towards the northeast and toward new york and boston. monday morning and then it all pushes out but the good news with this storm unlike yesterday's, temperatures on monday across the board here on the eastern seaboard will be in the 40s. so whatever ice we see will be over by monday. so here's the timeline for washington. they are the only big city that does have a winter storm watch. tomorrow morning it will start as snow and then sleet. then the afternoon change over to that freezing rain and sleet. that's really the biggest problem, the freezing rain. potentially one to two inches of snow. and a quarter an inch of ice. so at the city, they will see the most of any other city. in philadelphia afternoon, that's when it starts to snow and sleet. and then at the nighttime, the rain moves in because

temperatures are going to go up. rain, snow, and sleet around an inch of snow and sleet. and then to new york city. really late sunday night. maybe an inch of snow and sleet for them. but again, the big story and certainly the good news with this ice storm will be by monday all the temperatures will be in the mid 40s. so we will not see the lingering effects like we have had here in memphis and dallas. >> that's not bad. a nice little fall shortly thereafter. thanks so much, alexandra. >> sure, fred. merrill newman, 85-year-old american captured and locked up by north korean authorities earlier this fall is now home on u.s. soil. accused of alleged crimes during his time fighting in the korean war, north korea detained newman for six weeks. the u.s. war vet was mysteriously released, however, overnight. north korea state media say it's because of this video where newman appeared to apologize for his alleged crimes. jo joining me now, cnn correspondent dan simon just outside newman's condominium

complex. he was asked a number of questions when going through customs. he had a statement but he refused to answer questions. now where is he? >> well, first of all, he appears to be in good health and in good spirits. he has not made his way here to this retirement complex. apparently there is some alternative plans that were in place. the bottom line is he is home, he is safe, and this is what he had to say just a couple hours ago. apparently we do not have that sound for you. but mr. newman was somebody who was in the -- fought in the korean war. he served in an intelligence capacity. he had this burning desire to go back to the country, people who know him say he had this adventurous personality that traveled around world. he had studied korean -- the korean language to go back to the country in anticipation for

this trip. apparently, fredricka, he said the wrong thing to someone and that is why apparently the korean government took him into custody. let's now go ahead and listen to what mr. newman had to say after he landed in san francisco. >> good morning. i'm delighted to be home. i want to thank the swedish embassy in pyongyang and the american embassy in beijing for all their help. it's been a great, great homecoming. and i'm tired, but ready to be with my family now and thank you all for the support we got. and very much appreciate it. >> just to put this in context, fredericka, this is an 85-year-old with a heart condition. and obviously his friends and family were very worried for him. without explanation, as you said, the north korean government just decided to let him go. the official word is that they did it for, quote, unquote,

humanitarian purposes. >> dan simon, thanks so much. keep us posted if p mr. newman decides to reappear. all right. and the mysterious release of merrill newman is giving hope to another american family, that family of kenneth bae. in prison at a labor camp in north korea for over a year. his family is desperate to see help freed, releasing this statement saying, quote, we are pleased to hear that mr. newman was released from dprk. we believe that our kenneth should also come home soon. we have faith in our government to bring kenneth home, and we dearly wish that we will also have joyful holidays with kenne kenneth. unlike newman, bae was sentenced for his alleged crimes, given 15 years of hard labor for, quote, hostile acts. president barack obama says he's keeping his options open when it comes to maintaining national security. we'll go live to washington where he just wrapped up a

discussion about the middle east with israeli leaders. and a singer with an all american look is trying to win the title of "arab's got talent." we're aig. and we're here. to help secure retirements and protect financial futures. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global. on the ground, in the air, even into space. we repaid every dollar america lent us. and gave america back a profit. we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming.

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president barack obama says he's not taking any options off the table when it comes to maintaining national security of u.s. and its allies. the president made the remarks during a visit with the saban forum at the brookings i understand institution. it was a discussion on u.s. leaders. iranian nuclear negotiations and the syrian civil war. let's bring in washington right now. the president spoke about several issues to this group of israeli leaders and u.s.

leaders. were they comfortable with his answers about iran and the recent deal to curtail iran's nuclear program? >> well, in some ways, fred, i think he said exactly what the audience wanted to hear in terms of the fact that no option is off the table. he said he wasn't sure if this agreement with iran was going to work, but if it didn't, he would still keep that military option on the take. but he also laid out some very strong red lines for a possible deal with iran. let's take a listen to what he had to say about the need for everyone to be realistic about what's possible. >> one can envision an ideal world in which iran said, we'll destroy every element and facility and you name it, it's all gone. i can envision a world in which congress passed every one of my bills that i put forward.

i mean, there are a lot of things that i can envision that would be wonderful. but precisely because we don't trust the nature of the iranian regime, i think that we have to be more realistic and ask yourself what puts us in a strong position to assure ourselves that iran's not having a nuclear weapon and that we are protected? >> so what he seems to be saying, fred, listen, this zero option that iran destroying its whole nuclear program, we're way passed that point. but he did layout some very tough constraints under which iran would have to follow if it wanted to have some kind of small enrichment program. i think that those are the kinds of things the israelis are looking for. i just rushed freturned from ish secretary of state john kerry and these are the kinds of things they're discussing the netanyahu. >> there are all kinds of questions about the relations

and the realities of peace and the president said, you know, consistently that he believes the u.s. can be a facilitator to help israelis and palestinians bridge gaps but he says they have to want to do it. did he make any promises beyond that about how involved the u.s. is willing to be? >> well, this trip i just took with secretary kerry, that was his ninth trip to the region working with theish recallies and palestinians. on this trip, though, there was a lot more emphasis on israeli security. general john allen, he used to be the commander of forces in afghanistan, now is working on a very detailed and specific plan for how to address israel security needs in the event of a deal. and a lot of that is talk about how do you secure the west bank and what the president seemed to be saying today is to the palestinians, you're not going to get everything you want on day one. you have to be prepared for a transition period where israel

is going to be very much involved in the patrolling of a future palestinian state. i don't think that's something the palestinians want to hear but i think it will give israel a lot of confidence going ahead in terms of negotiating the borders of a palestinian state. >> all right, thanks so much from washington. a week of mourning under way for nelson mandela. he'll go down in history as a man who changed the world. ♪

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a tremendous show of love outside a home of civil rights icon nelson mandela. flowers, balloons, signs an notes have all been placed on the fence surrounding his house in johannesburg. but the remembrances aren't all somber. hundreds of people turned out to sing and dance and celebrate mandela's 95 years. a memorial service for the former south african leader is set for tuesday. here's something you might not know about nelson mandela. he was an amateur boxer and long distance runner. what's more, he learned in prison that sports can be a major weapon against racism. of course, mandela didn't invent

using athletic competitions to you neat people but he came close to perfecting it in 1995 when he brought his nation together through the rugby world cup. despite fears, racial tensions, could tear the country apart the nearly all white crowds cheered and chanted mandela's name when he wore the team's green and gold jersey on the field. even back in 1990 on his visit to new york he rocked the crowd at yankees stadium by wearing a yankees cap and jacket there and fans went crazy, of course. especially when he declared, quote, i am a yankee. so much of what mandela accomplished through the world of sports got him honor we'd an international athletic association award of a lifetime. and that was the jesse owens global award. mandela won the honor in 1995 but didn't receive it until 1999 in johannesburg. the award is given to those who

have, quote, made a significant and lasting contribution of enduring quality to society from a background of sports. jesse owens xeexemplified that one of the most iconic athletes of automatic time. in 1937 the 23-year-old from alabama shocked the world winning four gold medals in track and field. his win disproved hitler's claims of superiority and broke barriers for generations to come. now one of owens' medals from those games is being sold on scp auctions online. and last we checked, there were 24 bids. the highest bid is just over $595,000. experts believe it could go for more than a million bucks. so, i want to bring in beverly owens prather, she is one of josie owens' daughter '. she's joining us from chicago.

good to see you. >> good to see you, too. >> this is not a medal that the family had possession of, right, but one your dad gave to bill "bojangles" robinson. what was the circumstances that your dad gave his medal away to a friend? >> well, you would have to understand my father and know him to know what a big heart he had. and at the time that he gave the medal to bojangles, it was because bojangles gave him a place to stay and a job. >> and that's what's extraordinary and we're looking at some images right now, file tape of bojanglebojangles. a lot of people don't realize or understand that even after being overseas, winning these olympic medals, representing this nation, the country that your dad and many others african-american olympians came back to, it was still a nation of segregation, it was still very difficult to get a job.

your dad was unable to get employment, as was the case for my dad after his olympic wins in '48. so your dad actually gave his medals in large part to bojangles to actually help land him some employment, as well? >> not to land him employment, but to thank him for employment. so, you know, he was -- daddy was like a giving person. and that was his way, i guess, of saying thank you. >> and so the estate of robinson has put this medal on the auction block. as i mentioned, over $500,000 of the 24 bids so far is being offered for it. what does that make you feel, that one of your dad's four gold medals is on the auction block? does it bother you at all or is that just the way it goes? >> well, it is disturbing that his medal is being auctioned

off. we, as a family, just hope that if, you know, whoever gets it, puts it on display and holds it in high esteem. >> and, you know, this week the world is also mourning the death of nelson mandela. and to learn that nelson mandela was awarded the jesse owens global award and that your dad, jesse owens, and the name nelson mandela are being paired together and had been paired together, what does that make you think about the gravity of your dad's history and the gravity of that of nelson mandela's? >> the kind of go hand in hand because they were -- i feel that they're basically the same kind of person, understanding, giving, but always for the right thing. >> and the remaining then three gold medals of your dad, your

dad winning those medals in the 100, 200 meters, 4 x 4 and long jump. this medal that is on the auction block, which event does that represent? >> i think it was the 400 meters. i'm not sure. >> okay. all right. thank you so much, beverly owens prather for your time. appreciate it again. you know, that medal on the auction block and i know the other three medals are close at heart for you and your family. thanks so much for your time. appreciate it. >> thanks for asking. all right. some in dallas are calling it the icepocylis. ice storm fourth quartering out power and grounding plight flights. hear how the city is coping.

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today is the on verszry of the attack on pearl harbor. it was 72 years ago today. the japanese surprise attack killed more than 2,000 american service members an brought the u.s. into world war ii. let's talk more about the weather system and what is moving across this nation, particularly the central part of this country. part of that system is an ice storm that hit dallas/ft. worth very hard. thousands are still without power and many flights are still grounded. cnn's ed lavandera is live for us there. ed, is there any thaw-out that you're feeling as yet? just a little bit? >> reporter: no, at this point -- at this point, no, at this point in the day, we are completely numb to any sensation of thawing out. >> sorry. >> i don't think that's going to happen. >> so how are people coping? my gosh.

that's a huge ice chunk. >> a lot of people are staying inside. very few people are going outside. this is clyde warn park in downtown dallas. on a day like this you would think this place is usually packed with people enjoying the weekend. we were here a few days ago and it was 80 degrees. and people were out here. but you know, the streets are very quiet. a number of people out and about. but i think that's probably cabin fever setting in at this point. that's because we're dealing with this ice. i just plucked this off of a chair here in the park. and this is what's collected on that chair. you can see ice this thick and, you know, probably collecting on the roadways as well. that's part of the trouble we're dealing with. obviously power lines have gone down. still a let of people without power. and this is a leaf i just pulled off the ground here, as well. this is a leaf that is completely hardened, i can't even break that apart. in the ice. what happens here is that it weighs everything down. the trees have been collapsing. they fall on power lines. that's why people have been left without power. i want to show you a good

picture of the ballpark in arlington. obviously it's not baseball season but the police department out there in arlington put out this picture which i thought was rather powerful and interesting to see, especially when you junctijuk juxtapose this with the university of the central florida. so i would imagine there's probably like four people in the stands at that game. >> pretty miserable conditions. ed lavandera, thanks so much. hopefully your toes get to thaw out a little bit later. all right. overseas, quite frankly, around the world, ten days of mourning are under way for the man many call mandiba. nelson mandela won't soon be forgotten. we'll take you live to johannesburg to see how they're celebrating his life. but first, dan transforms the lives of wounded soldiers by building them mortgage-free accessible homes.

and tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern time we're airing a documentary on his work called "operation finally home," a cnn heroes special presentation. in this sneak peek, we meet a young sergeant who lost his arm and legs in afghanistan and is now struggling to move forward with his new civilian life. >> there's over 50,000 wounded veterans that we have now. one of the biggest challenges is transitioning from military life to civilian life. >> i have my good days, i have my bad. another first there were a lot more bad than good. i can't change what happened. if i could wish everything back, i would, but i can't. why let it get me down? i'm 24. i want to be able to live by myself and to be able to do everything i need to do by myself. >> i build kucustom homes for 3 years. in 2005 i did my first remodel for a wounded veteran.

god put a passion in my heart to help these families. >> this apartment that i live in, it's not set up for my needs. the doors are not as wide as they should be. the bathroom isn't as big as it should be. some of the shelves are too high. >> you know, these young men and women need a lot of help. unfortunately i don't know how to help in a lot of areas. but i do know how to build a home. >> kind of bugs me, won't go to sleep. well, what's next is the big question. >> to me, what's next is, getting a house, going to school, and finding a career. everything is kind of on hold right now until i get a place that is mine. >> wow. he is amazing. you can see more of dan's story tomorrow 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn.

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memorials are growing and people in south africa are celebrating the life of nelson mandela, the civil rights icon died thursday at the age of 95. cnn's robin kurnow is live outside his home in johannesburg where it really is a place of holding vigil, at the same time celebrating his life. >> reporter: absolutely. it's like a pilgrimage here. south africans doing what they always do, they sing in times of happiness and in times of hardship. and this noise, this celebration, this la meant you hear behind me has been going on literally since thursday night.

people singing over and over again, nelson mandela, nelson mandela, there's no one like you. now, many of these south africans behind me felt like they had a personal closeness with nelson mandela. they owe so much to him. and he had that way with people. his family saying today that he had time for everyone, kings and queens, rich or poor, great or small. and, in fact, one of those people was bill clinton, the former u.s. president. i spoke to him on nelson mandela's 94th birthday outside mandela's home and he asked him what mandela meant to him personally. >> personally, he's been a wonderful friend to me. you know, when we were working together, we were both presidents of our countries. we had a lot of business to do. we often had to do it in telephone calls where it was very late in america and very

early in south africa. and i always tried to do the late side because out of difference to him. but he didn't call me a single time, not once, when he didn't ask about hillary and chelsea and if it wasn't too late he would ask me to go get chelsea, bring her to the phone, and ask about her homework, was she keeping up, you know. so i saw in him something that i tried not to lose in myself, which is no matter how much responsibility he had, he remembered he was a person first. and then i learned a lot about living from him, about living with adversity, living with setbacks, living with disappointments, and living without anger. so quite apart from all the magnificent contributions he made to free his country and to inspire the world, i learned a lot about life from him.

>> u.s. state department spokesperson told me that bill clinton, hillary clinton, and chelsea will be at mandela's state funeral in his rural home state next sunday. clinton will be one of the few heads of state or former heads of state at the state funeral because south african authorities are actively encouraging leaders to come to tuesday's memorial service instead. they say, the hortauthorities h having a funeral in such a remote location, in the tent is going to be a logistical nightmare when it comes to security accommodation and transport. so most of the vips will be attending tuesday's service and it's only those close friends and those who have a personal connection with mandela. 4,000 of them we understand, will be attending that sunday funeral. >> all right, that will indeed be an incredible challenge. all right, thanks so much. robin kurnow there in johannesburg. coming up, meet a woman who

has that all american look and plenty of talent as well, but you'll never guess what reality show title she could win. but first, earlier this week, a judge ruled the city of detroit is eligible for the largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history. it's a decision that could back the pensions of thousands of former public service including retired firefighter malusky. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has his story in today's "human factor." >> multiple firemen down. >> reporter: you're listening to the actual 911 call from august 13th, 2013. >> everyone here, now! >> reporter: it's a day that began like any other. but one that will change firefighter brendan malusky's life forever. >> i remember we were working on the facade of the building and

somebody had yelled some sort of caution. and the bricks kind of leaning down in front of my face and you're taught in a collapse situation to run towards the collapse, but your human instincts take over. >> reporter: brendan knew right away his career as one of the bravest was over. >> you see these war movies like "saving private ryan" when these guys are in combat and you lose sound, you can't hear anything. and it was exactly like that. i tried to place my hands on the ground in front of me to push up and when i did that push-up i couldn't slide my knees to my chest and i knew instantly what had happened, that i was paralyzed and had a spinal cord injury. >> reporter: brendan now spends three hours a day, three days a week, here at the rehabilitation institute of michigan working to make the most of what muscles he

still has control over. >> walker height is okay? >> it's perfect. >> there are days that i question whether or not i'm okay mentally but to me it's simple. i learned early on that i have a voice through this and i have something to say and i have a message. >> reporter: doogie as he's known to his firefighting family because he joined the department when he was just 20 years old, was even featured in the award winning documentary "burn" from executive producer dennis leery. >> well, what happens to doogie in the movie is something that i think a lot of people would consider tragic. his response to what happens to him is heroic. >> as much as i hate me and my story, i think that it's something we need to open up people's eyes to. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. no matter how busy your morning you can always do something better for yourself.

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a new experimental cancer therapy shows promise as a possible cure. it has already saved 15-year-old

nick wilkins' life. he was diagnosed with leukemia at age 4 and his doctors had run out of options but after using this new immunotherapy, wilkins is now cancer free. here's how it works. doctors take a patient's own cells and modify them so that they target and kill the cancer cells. cnn's dr. sanjay gupta will have more on this and other medical stories in the next hour on "sanjay gupta m.d." here he is with a preview, sanjay? >> fred, it's a statistic that i talk about all the time. someone dies every 19 minutes in this country from an accidental prescription drug overdose and most of these deaths, fred, involve painkillers, so we're going to be exposing one prominent physician who some say was writing these prescriptions with reckless abandon, we got that ahead. >> thank you so much, sanjay. "america's got talent" it's a reality show staple.

and saudi arabia has its own version, but the american already has lots of people talking and listening. here's mohammed jamjoom. >> reporter: he's the all-american girl with the very arab voice. meet jennifer grout, the 23-year-old from massachusetts who may just win the biggest televised talent contest in the middle east. "arab's got talent." jennifer, how did you first get interested in arabic music? >> i came across an article online about th a famous leb sne singer and i was memorized, it was like nothing i'd heard before. >> reporter: jennifer who studied opera and classic music turned her way eastward, in three years she learned to sing arabic before she could speak ar arabic. >> i wanted an audience to

perform arabic music for. >> reporter: many thought she would flop. she couldn't even understand the judges making for an awkward moment. >> okay. ♪ >> reporter: but then they were stunned into silence. this american novice chose to cover an egyptian diva. legendary songstress, revered throughout the region. to everyone's surprise jennifer was a huge hit. >> when i finished, everyone was just shocked and all the judges said really nice things. actually when the judges were giving their comments after my performance, i didn't understand them either. >> reporter: but not all viewers are fans. many critics say an american shouldn't be competing on a reality show for arabs. during rehearsal, she shows me how difficult the songs are,

even for a native speaker like me. ♪ ♪ wow that is a tough song to sing. okay, that's impressive. now jennifer's become a sensation. singing the most unexpected of melodies, crossing musical cultures while defying cultural expectations, mohammed jamjoom, cnn, beirut. >> fascinating stuff. casinos paying big bucks to secure exclusive rights to your favorite musics artists, we'll tell you which stars have stopped going on the road and are letting their fans instead come to them. [ male announcer ] here's a question for you: if every u.s. home replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, the energy saved could light how many homes? 1 million? 2 million? 3 million?

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the nominations for the 56th

annual grammy awards are in and the hottest song of the summer is up for record of the year. ♪ blurred lines ♪ i know you want it baby >> robin thicke and t.i. performing their grammy-nominated song "blurred lines" last night during a nomination special on cbs, joining them in the category for record of the year "get lucky" by daf punk, "radioactive" my imagine dragons and "royals" by lordes. and jay-z led all nominations with nine and trailing right behind him hip-hop duo mclemore with seven. big name artists stop going on the road and let the road come to them. >> reporter: bette midler,

celine dion, elton, and cher. once they happened in vegas, they often stay in vegas. it's called a residency. casinos pay big bucks to secure exclusive rights to a performer for weeks even years. in turn the headliners get to build the show of their dreams, complete with all the vegas pomp and plumage money can buy. >> what's up, vegas? >> reporter: tuesday night sin city pulled out all the stops for its newest recruit britney spears. starting on the 27th, spears will perform for two years at planet hollywood, nearly 100 shows total. for a reported $30 million. >> in vegas we're always looking for top entertainment, right? the value isn't having big name artists in the city on the properties promoting a hotel and a casino. >> reporter: he helped negotiate the deal. >> the residency business is great for tourism for these

cities because people are making a specific choice to choose vegas over another city or destination because they want to see their favorite act. >> reporter: okay, spears has the strip, but that location doesn't suit everybody. as his hit songs prove, billy joel is more of an east coast guy. ♪ i'm in a new york state of mind ♪ >> reporter: joel has played at madison square garden 46 times. >> playing the garden is an experience that never gets old. >> reporter: and now the piano man will make it a monthly tradition for as long as his tickets keep selling. >> a month at the garden as long as there's a demand means more opportunity to connect with music fans and provide a unique and memorable show every night. >> reporter: new audiences without the hassle of new cities is a big draw for musicians. >> we look at the audience and get their energy and people come from all over the world to see us. >> reporter: in 2008 donnie and marie osmond settled into the flamingo in las vegas where they marked 50 years in show business. cher celebrated their fourth decade on stage by getting off

the road. >> that's what i retired from, just, you know, just having to just haul myself all over the world. >> reporter: she like other big names opted for the coliseum at caesar's instead. >> you are finding artists that are making this decision because they don't want to tour, it's a lot of work, right? and it's a lot of time to have to spend nights in a hotel room away from your families. >> reporter: it's a safe bet for promoters if they play their cards right. elton john's first show in vegas was so successful caesar's invited him back for a second stint. carlos santana's show sales were so nice, he did it twice, first at planet hollywood and then at the hard rock cafe. but the queen of vegas is celine dion, her five-year residency earned a reported $400 million, her second show began in 2011 and has just been extended to 2019. as for rolling the dice on billy joel, well, he sold out his first four shows already. >> thank you. >> billy joel's first show rolls

out in january, jake tapper, cnn, washington. >> all right, that sounds like a lot of fun. time to go to vegas. that's going to do it for me, i'm fredricka whitfield, the next hour of "cnn newsroom" begins right now with deb feyerick. any chance you've seen any of those shows in vegas? >> i've never been to vegas. >> what? >> i've been a lot of places but i've never been to vegas. >> you got to do vegas at least once. >> at least once. >> yeah. >> and i hear what happens there stays there, so that's what i'm counting on. >> oh, yeah, that's so not true. just be careful when you go. you are in the "cnn newsroom," i'm deborah feyerick. our top news story this hour, it is the winter wake-up call that a few hundred thousand people are dealing with today across several states particularly the south. december's harsh reality rolled in across texas today, where a lot of people are going nowhere on miles and miles of dallas highways. some slush that covered the area on friday froze to a very hard

glaze overnight. that means that roads are impossible to navigate. ice-covered power lines are snapping and, yes, thousands of wannabe travelers, well, you know where they spent the night at the dallas-ft. worth airport. nearly every single flight was canceled. well, from central texas, just think about it, draw a line north and east across arkansas and up the mississippi valley to the great lakes. temperatures are far below average right now, even in places where a deep freeze is usually nothing new. northern ohio and the great lakes. well, two very brave, very bundled up cnners are in the middle of this cold snap today, ed lavandera in dallas who we've heard has not taken his hands out of his pockets for hours, and i hear you, and it was 80 degrees just two days ago and now here you are, you look like you're ready to go skiing. >> reporter: we probably could. this is basically an ice rink. if i had a hockey stick and a

hockey puck, i'd just go to work here. but it's not snow and that's what makes this so miserable in a lot of ways, it's not even something you can get out and enjoy a whole lot of. and not only is it miserable in a ground or a beautiful park like this clyde warren park in downtown dallas but it's even more miserable on the roadways. i was driving around yesterday and it was very slushy on the roadways and the problem is the temperatures dropped well below freezing. all of that slush really hardened up and in the places where the slush and the water was still on the roadways become very slick and it's that kind of ice you don't necessarily see very well and that's why we're seeing so many accidents on the roadways today especially along interstate 35 where earlier today a man in a pickup truck slipped off the road over -- on an overpass over a lake and the truck went plunging into the lake water. firefighters dove in to try to rescue him and they were not able to do that and he died there at the scene. the roadway's incredibly dangerous and that's something we'll be continuing to monitor. and then you've got the situation at the airports, 90%

of the flights out of dfw airport yesterday were canceled, 50% of them canceled today. at least the good news is that there's not more rain and sleet falling on the round here today, but because the temperatures are so low and will stay below freezing for at least another day and a half or so, this cannot melt away, deb? >> and, ed, at the airport do they even have the de-icing machines that you find in chicago or new york or elsewhere? >> reporter: they definitely have that. you know, the equipment problem really has more to do with the roads, i mean, this -- an event like this only happens every three or four years, i would say, so it's not like the transportation departments and the city street departments invest in the big plows that can clear it all away, they've got to use the sand trucks and the salt machines, so that's why the roads become so treacherous, it's not something that city and state governments invest a whole lot of money in when it's something you only have to deal with every three or four years. >> absolutely. and frightening pictures of the cars on the overpass, ed lavandera, thank you so much, we appreciate that report.

we'll turn to memphis, and the average temperature there in early december usually about 54 degrees, today you were likely to see 20 degrees. how are people in memphis actually dealing with what is a weather emergency? >> reporter: you know, 20 degrees would actually feel good because you forgot to add in the windchill, it's feeling like single digits out here and that's one of the reasons and the concerns that they canceled the marathon this morning. if you keep in mind the arctic blast are bringing in the cold temperatures and many are without power, 5,000 people lost power and now only 500 people are without power. the concern with the marathon 20,000 people were expected to be in town for the marathon, they were concerned they would be commuting to the marathon right at the peak of this ice storm. we actually met up with a couple of the people that made the journey anyways. listen to their treacherous ride over. >> we had an exciting ride down, took us nine hours which is normally four to five-hour trip. windshield wipers icing up. lines down over the highway on

55. it was closed for a time. and winter everything from ice to snow. it was a -- it was a journey. >> reporter: exactly you can see why they did cancel that marathon. in fact, it will be a two-punch storm. right now people will be trying to make the trip home and another ice storm is expected overnight tonight, the concern remains we still have ice on the ground in many locations here and there's still an ice on the way. even if you don't get half an inch of ice from one of the storms which is usual-the amount that can bring down the power lines, it makes it weigh 500 pounds, you can get half an inch of ice from two storms there's already a quarter of an inch and you have the second wave and we're still concerned with losing power again tonight and we start off talking about the cold temperatures. just imagine people already without power and potentially many more could lose power tonight with temperatures still below freezing. >> indra, thank you so much. that is certainly the way it looks right now, but the line of cold, ice, slow and sleet it's

still moving. alexandra steel is in the cnn severe weather center, show us exactly where it will start getting really, really nasty. >> and, deb, the ice and snow will find you, so it will make its way up the eastern seaboard. here's the ice storm setup, cold arctic air coming down from the northwest, but warm, moist air here in the southeast. so, a lot of warm air with just a very shallow cold air. that's what creates the freezing rain and that is the most perilous. so, here's how it's going to play out. it's a one-day affair, it's predominantly tomorrow, and here's tomorrow morning. you can watch roanoke, roanoke to richmond, i-81, that's really where the greatest ice will be in terms of the accumulation of it. and then by sunday night it makes its way farther north, the ice and the snow and then it's more snow here for new england, changing over to rain in some of the bigger cities. so, here's the timeline. in washington, d.c., we're going to see it tomorrow, snow starts by noon. changes over to sleet, and then tomorrow night we're going to see changeover to freezing rain and sleet. so, on the whole, 1 to 2 inches

of snow and maybe a quarter of an inch of sleet which is certainly substantial. in philadelphia we'll see the snow and the sleet coming in the afternoon. nighttime, again, that rain changes over, too, again, snow and sleet, maybe around an inch of snow and sleet combined. and then farther north to new york, late sunday night, we'll see snow and sleet, then change over to rain. overnight rain on monday. about an inch of snow or sleet. so, what we're going to see and the difference between this ice storm than what we've seen yesterday from dallas to memphis, and where ed lavandera's was, is that it won't be cold for long. by monday we're in the 40s in new york and in boston and in washington. so, whatever ice does fall, it will quickly change over and melt, and so the ice won't be as perilous, deb, on monday because the temperatures will finally rebound and be a lot warmer. >> a little bit dangerous, i was with someone today, finally it feels cold. but this is very cold.

alexandra steele, thank you so much. >> sure, deb. home from north korea for the second time, an american who once fought in the korean war lands in the u.s. after being held captive for the past six weeks. and paying respects. throngs of people gathered at this hour outside the home of nelson mandela, we'll go live with you to south africa. /úññ dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. polident kills 99.99% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains. that's why i recommend polident. [ male announcer ] cleaner, fresher, brighter every day.

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tired but grateful an 85-year-old u.s. war veteran who was detained in north korea for six weeks, he's now safe on american soil. meryl newman arrived at san francisco international airport just a few hours ago. north korea's news agency said newman was released for humanitarian reasons, but it happened just one week after he made a public apology for his service during the korean war. dan simon joins us live outside newman's home in palo alto, what do we know of newman, is he expected home anytime soon? >> reporter: well, it's a good question, debra. apparently he's not heading here. they've made some kind of alternative arrangements for him to stay for the next few days. you can see behind me there's yellow ribbons at the entrance, this is the retirement home where he lives. as you can imagine his family

and friends grateful to have him home. this is what he said a few hours ago when he arrived at the san francisco international airport. >> good morning, i'm delighted to be home. i want to thank the swedish embassy in pyongyang and the american embassy in beijing for all their help. it's been a great, great homecoming, and i'm tired, but ready to be with my family now. and thank you all for the support we got. and very much appreciated. >> reporter: well, newman was an intelligence officer during the korean war. he was part of some top secret missions. he apparently felt he had some unfinished business in the country and wanted to go back and visit, you know, he fought some 60 years ago, but apparently while he was there he said the wrong thing to someone and so he was taken into custody. he was there for six weeks. he is known to be an adventurous

person, somebody who traveled around the world. some people who know him, it wasn't completely surprising that he wanted to go back to north korea, but he certainly got more than he bargained for. >> and, dan, is there any indication why the north koreans actually released him after holding him for six weeks? >> reporter: well, it seems like that apology certainly had something to do with it, that's sort of stilted on-air apology, it seemed to have been written for him. as you said, his release comes just a few days after that. and he also made reference to the fact that the north korean government said he was released for humanitarian purposes. we should also know that, of course, the united states has no formal relations with north korea but a senior administration official told cnn he was released after the white house had some direct communication with the north korean government, so that seemed a bit unusual. >> it was interesting to know the behind-the-scenes story. dan simon for us, thanks so much.

well, plans for a final good-bye for nelson mandela are beco beginning to come into focus as details are announced about his funeral and his burial. ♪ crowds gathered outside mandela's home in johannesburg today celebrating and remembering the 95-year-old former president who died on thursday. robin kernow is live in johannesburg, you're live outside his home, what has the atmosphere been? >> reporter: it's loud and celebratory, it's not about a party but it's the way south africans say good-bye to each other and it's done in songs. and the laments and the soppings have been going on literally nonstop since thursday night

when the announcement came that he died and what is clear about this crowd behind me in this suburban street in johannesburg, it's very much a mixture of white and black and rich and poor and young and old and different people from different walks of life coming from their own special intimate reason to pay respects to the man they call tata, father. take a listen to what man had to tell us. >> this is for me a good time to reflect on what mandela has done. i think i know to many mandela was reconciler, but to a few of us mandela was a liberator. he saved us from something, something that was meant to harm us, and i think he led us very well. to us he was a commander. to us mandela was a kind of a messiah, we love him. and i think he's very much still alive inside of us. and i think on this day we want to pay homage, came here with my

children, to show him who this man was and what we must be in order to carry on his legacy. >> reporter: you know, everybody has a different reason for feeling close to, for feeling sad about the death of nelson mandela, but really don't underestimate what he did for this country in terms of knitting it together. more than 20 years ago this country really was on the brink of civil war. it was unclear how things would progress, and it was nelson mandela's very steady, very wise, very calm leadership that enforced reconciliation and forgiveness, that really changed the history, the path of this nation which created this democracy, and you can see it here today in the song and the dancing. people knitted together in sadness but also in thankfulness. >> and, robin, what is the plan for the funeral? because i know there are a number of days ahead that rites will be administered

essentially. >> reporter: well, we've seen two events that are very different events. tuesday will be a memorial service at a soccer stadium here in johannesburg, and next sunday will be a very rural affair, rural funeral, in the hills of his boyhood home which will literally be a tent in this very remote area. now, the south african authorities are telling me they're encouraging heads of state to go to tuesday's event because the logistics, security of getting heads of state into this small, rural airport and then to the sort of the hill, the hilly tent funeral is going to be very difficult, so we're going to see barack obama and many other heads of state and royalty coming here on tuesday. >> robyn kurnow for us there in south africa, thank you very much. have you ever heard of a dead man's pedal, it could mean the difference if you make it safely across a railroad track. except when it's too cold. like the last three weekends.

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well, wall street loved friday's job report, driving the dow jones up 200 points, but while 203,000 jobs sounds like a lot, and it is, it's not enough to make up for the millions of jobs lost in the middle of the recession. alexandra, join us now, what is the bottom line of this report? are we still limping along? >> we are adding more than 2 million jobs to the economy for the third year in a row but it isn't enough to make up for the jobs lost during 2008 and 2009, what's especially good about the november jobs numbers there are more higher-paying jobs being created, $24 and $25 an hour jobs in industries like transportation, warehousing, construction, health care, manufacturing. better paying jobs than we've seen created in the past and these jobs come on top of job gains in industries where we would expect to see some hiring

this time of year, things like bars, restaurants, hospitality, retail. who's getting the jobs being created? we're seeing a lot of young people who are collecting paychecks now that weren't collecting paychecks before, young people have struggled to get jobs since the recession hit and we're seeing the recently unemployed are having more luck securing those jobs than the long-term unemployed. >> what about the older americans, a lot of people retired early or they got so disurge coudi discouraged, they decided to move on? what information are you seeing? >> people are actively looking for jobs and can't find jobs and 4 million are in the long-term unemployed and the new report isn't showing an uptick there, and the news remains bleak for them even as we see the gains among the younger demographics. >> good news for those finding the jobs but still very difficult for those who are not. and you thought your job was tough, well, try multitasking while being in charge of 1

million pounds of speeding steel. on board with a train engineer coming up next. but, first, dr. sanjay gupta with a preview of what's coming up at the half hour. >> deb, it's a statistic that i talk about all the time, someone dies every 19 minutes from a prescription drug overdose and most of these deaths, deb, involve painkillers. so, we're exposing one prominent physician who some say was writing these prescriptions with reckless abandon. we got that bottom of the hour. and ah, so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron! whoa. ah...yeah, pretty much walked into that one. geico anywhere anytime. just a tap away on the geico app.

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nestle. every day we're working to and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america. bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invested over $55 billion here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor. our commitment has never been stronger. well, obama care may have a new problem. congress itself could miss its monday enrollment deadline, some congressional lawmakers and staffers say that they're having trouble trying to enroll. cnn obtained an e-mail sent thursday by the house chiefe iv preventing staffers from signing

up. meanwhile the obama care's front page is sporting a new design that is supposed to actually make it easier to use. well, if you hop on a train, your commute morning or whenever you commute, your life is in the hands of the engineer, the deadly commuter train wreck in the bronx last weekend now shedding new light on the high-pressure duties of driving trains. we talked to a chicago man who guides a million pound commuter train while carefully balancing signals, speed, and safety. >> reporter: as passengers rush through their morning commute engineer jeff cline scales 12 feet into this locomotive and gets ready to take responsibility. for hundreds of peoples' lives. with the throttle and two brakes, cline alone controls this 1 million pound behemoth during its three-hour run. and he's got a lot on his mind. what were you watching coming out of the station? >> the signals. crossings. crossing protection, the gates,

pedestrians. speedometer. >> reporter: piloting a seven-car train 100 miles through 18 suburban chicago stations cline has to be able to divide his attention among signals, sounds and safety. about how fast are we going? >> 60 miles an hour. >> reporter: and how long would it take to stop? >> a controlled stop? like coming into a station, probably take about 0.4 of a mile. >> reporter: and that would take almost a full minute. then there's the dead-man pedal, designed to stop the train if the engineer is unresponsive. >> well, that was the dead-man pedal. if you move your foot off of it just the wrong way, it will start to -- that sound you heard, and then it will stop the train. >> reporter: to get the feeling of what it's like to control these rolling caravans, we headed to modock railroad

academy and talked to instructor david wrangle. >> today the passenger locomotive engineer is being asked to do so much more than ever before, he's being asked to do the job of two or three people. this is the canal of the locomotiv locomotive. >> reporter: okay. but there's no amount of training that can prepare the engineer for fatigue. >> we are dealing with humans in the cab of locomotives and we have frailties. >> reporter: on the return trip to chicago klein said he has too much to worry about to be distracted. >> again, there's always something going on, the alerters going off, everything happening in front of you, for me it's not real easy to lose concentration. >> reporter: and now he'll grab some rest before doing it all over again in just a few hours. every day hundreds of engineers are traveling on thousands of miles of track and driving a train is a lot like playing chess you have to think several moves ahead, only you have to do it at 70 miles per hour, chris

frates, cnn, chicago. >> interesting perspective. well, i'm deborah feyerick, i'll see you right back here at the top of the hour with lots more. but first, some surprising good news about cancer. "sanjay gupta m.d." starts right now. an unbelievable story that i'm having a hard time wrapping my name around, it's about carolyn bosley and all of her twists and turns into the descents of addiction. i'll show you what happened to her and just how many pills at one point were part of her deadly dose. also, i can't tell you how often i hear this, it's too expensive to eat healthy. do you know what, we decided to put a dollar amount on this. i promise you, the number will surprise you. but, first we've got news this weekend about a strategy to help cancer patients when nothing else works. here's senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen. >>